


Just One Day, Just One Night. From Dawn to Dawn. **ABANDONED**

by covacola



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, School Dances, Secret Relationship, Surprise Party, background libnyx, i just want them to be able to dance to cheesy songs and make noct rly happy ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2020-12-17 06:27:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21049814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/covacola/pseuds/covacola
Summary: A little bit over 24 hours to just be a normal kid. Sort of. Kinda. Not at all, really.Breakfast with nowhere to be,A long awaited date,A “school dance” they never even dreamed of.This one birthday was going to be perfect. This one day was going to be everything they could never have.i wanted to delete this but i do not have the heart :(





	1. Chapter 1

Prompto stood stock still, too tense and jumpy to even fidget. The man next to him loomed taller even than Gladio, and with now infinitely more intimidation. He’d been so tense when the fuckin Crown had sent an escort to come pick him up from _ his house _. Like??? Really??? Who did that?? He was just a civilian. The man hadn’t said a word to him other than to confirm his identity before he’d hopped in the car. He hadn’t been entirely sure where to sit, so he’d just slid into the front passenger seat. Prompto supposed he woulda gotten this disapproving feeling no matter where he sat, but it made him sweat all the same as Drautos purposely didn’t look at him. 

And now Drautos was escorting him into the Palace, to the _ Throne Room _. It was exhilarating and terrifying all at once. He tried to tell himself it was only Noct’s dad, but that somehow didn’t really work out. Noct could talk casually about his dad allllll he wanted, that didn’t make King Regis Lucis Caelum any less imposing, especially in this huge, haunting space, so high on his almost unearthly looking throne. “Relax, kid,” came the tall man’s voice, echoing just slightly against the huge door, yet unopened. 

Prompto gasped, then nearly choked on his own air. He hadn’t been breathing. “Uh, right. Yeah...Sure...” He trailed off, face heating. 

Peripherally, he caught Drauto’s smirk. “You’ve got balls kid, I’ll give ya that much.” Annnnd now his face was even redder. “I dunno what it is you’re planning to ask His Highness, but I’m sure it’s on the Prince’s behalf.” 

Prom cleared his throat, “uh, yeah actually. It is.” He took a deep breath, closing his eyes and collecting himself. This was for Noct. Okay, it was for all of them, sure. But mostly Noct. Especially Noct. He opened his eyes, resolved to really do this. 

Unknown to him, Drautos smiled. The kid had clearly tunnel visioned and was in for a ride, if he knew the king. He stepped forward, opening the door ceremoniously and announced, “Prompto Argentum requests the audience of His Highness, King Regis Lucis Caelum.” He bowed deeply, noting the blonde’s awkward attempt at the same.

The King sat imperiously, chin lifted just slightly to look down even more at the civilian. Still, his shoulders were relaxed, a slight smile playing across his features. “Enter,” he responded simply. 

Prompto came up from his bow and froze. The King was not alone, other than his Shield of course. There next to him, for a wonder, was Iggy. His eyes widened and he almost called out, but stifled himself with a, “erm, thank you. Your Majesty.” 

He waved off, “you’re free to go, Drautos.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” 

The door closed and Prompto felt a lump in his throat. “Come,” The King bid. 

Prompto rushed up, doing his best to maintain both haste and composure. Iggy was a perfect mask of composure, as usual, but his heart soared when he gave him a discreet smile. Iggy tilted his head forward just slightly as a cue, and Prompto bowed again deeply. 

The King smiled, cutting Prompto off as he opened his mouth for some other rehearsed pleasantries. “Judging by Ignis’s confusion at his summoning, I assume you had someone else coach you on the ways of court.” 

Prompto felt his face warm all over again. “Er, yes. Your Majesty. Uhm,” was it rude to drop names? Was it rude to _ not _ drop names??? “One of the Glaives who escorted me home last time--” 

The King’s smile deepened, “I thought you’d be more at ease with Nyx. My son always has been.” 

Prompto blinked. At ease? Not likely. Noct had had a _ huge _ crush on that guy pretty much since the first time he saw him. And who could blame him? That man was _ stupid _ hot. Ahh, he was getting side tracked again. “Uh, yeah, um. So--”

“You have a request for me, I assume,” Regis guided lightly. 

His eyes caught Prompto off guard. They were older, wiser, wearier even than Noct’s. And yet they were the same somehow. He recognized the dancing amusement in those blue eyes. It set him surprisingly at ease. “Yes, Your Highness,” the words somehow came easier. 

“And I presume it has to do with my son?” 

“Yes sir.” He saw Iggy’s and Claurus’s mouths tighten just slightly. Whoops. But The King continued, unperturbed.

“He has been quite restless lately, does he know of this request then?” The King’s eyes flashed again, and Prompto knew he knew Noct had _ no _ idea. Iggy had no idea. Gladio had no idea.

“No, Your Highness.” 

The King sat back, head tilting slightly. “What is it you would ask of me, Prompto Argentum?” 

He took a steadying breath. There was no decorum in the world to say this properly, but he tried to think of the King Regis Noct had so often told him about. His _ dad _ . Not just The King, but his _ dad _ . “I’d like your permission to throw Noct a sort of birthday party.” It came out all in a rush. The ringing silence that followed was absolute agony. He didn’t _ dare _ look at Iggy. 

* * *

“Holy shit,” Prompto blurted as Iggy escorted him back out of the Palace. “Holy shit, Iggy-- _ holy shit _.” He was losing it. 

Prompto was suddenly yanked to the side, down a side passage that was surprisingly deserted. The hallway they’d taken had been sparsely populated, but there was absolutely no one here. Which apparently Iggy knew, as he was now kissing Prompto deeply. At first, he’d frozen, but, aptly named, it was difficult for him not to melt into Iggy’s fiery passion. When they finally broke apart, Ignis was _ smiling _. He was just as amazed as Prom was and oh my Gods was it beautiful. He laughed, then tried to stifle it, Iggy took his hand, planting kiss after kiss against his gloved knuckles. He kept giggling, he couldn’t help it. 

Then, suddenly, the mask was back in place. It slipped just slightly as Iggy saw his expression fall. “Come, Prompto. Your escort will be waiting for you.” The walked at a more brisk pace back out to the front. Prompto’s stomach was clenched the whole way. He was not looking forward to being shuttled back by-- his eyes widened as he saw the car and he broke out into a huge grin, the front window rolling down to give him a better view of the driver. 

“Nyx!” He laughed, running the last few strides. 

The Glaive beamed, flashing his roguish grin. “Sorry I couldn’t pick you up,” he rolled his eyes, “drew the short stick, was training some of the newbies to warp.” He mimed puking over the steering wheel. 

Prompto laughed so hard he snorted. “Eww! Gross!”

“Tell me about it.” 

Iggy placed a hand at the small of Prompto’s back, causing him to jump slightly. He then took the opportunity to open the door for the younger. Prompto dutifully jumped in, a bit sad Iggy himself couldn’t drive him home. Nyx was still grinning something mischievous. “So, how’d it go?” He teased. 

Prompto flopped back dramatically against his seat, “dude it WORKED! I don’t believe it!” 

Nyx only laughed, “I’m tellin’ you. ‘Long as you can keep it within Royal Parameters-- and that shouldn’t be too hard with His Advisor on your side--” he nodded to Ignis, “I told you Regis wouldn’t care. He’s probably just happy to give Noctis this much.” 

“Yeah,” Prompto said, still exasperated, “but _ still_.” 

Ignis cleared his throat, “please send me a rough idea of what you had in mind, Prompto. I’ll be sure to help hammer out the finer points.” 

Prompto’s face fell like a puppy realizing he was stay home, “oh, uh. Yeah. Okay!” He tried, he really did, but his voice was still almost too much. 

Nyx rolled his eyes, glancing around. “Ignis, no one’s around,” he said conspiratorially. Ignis stiffened, but the hopefulness in Prompto’s bright eyes was his downfall. He stepped forward and briefly kissed Prompto again. When they parted, despite it being so quick, Prompto’s whole face had lit up. 

“Really, you know you don’t gotta hide this shit around me,” Nyx teased.

Ignis’s face didn’t change as he retorted, “this, coming from you.” Iggy eyed the older man and, with a perfectly composed, innocent tone asked, “and how is Libertus?” 

Nyx’s face lit up almost comically. “Well,” he said evenly. 

Iggy actually snorted, pointing a joking finger at the Glaive, “don’t you dare give _ us _ dating advice when you’ve continued to dance around your love life for what-- _ twenty _ years now?” 

“It has _ not _ been twenty--” Nyx tried to protest, but Prompto added.

“Wait! You guys _ aren’t _ together yet?!” 

“No!” Nyx spluttered. “No. No, we aren’t. We are _ just _ friends,” he tried to salvage his pride where he could, but it was greatly undermined by both Ignis _ and _ Prompto snorting at that.

“Dude, he _ tooooootally _ likes you.” 

“As I’ve said for years,” Ignis added. 

“Okay! I get it! Enough!” Nyx said in exasperation. Prompto laughed and Ignis allowed a smile. 

Prompto looked back at Ignis, but when their eyes met, words failed. “Um...” 

Nyx snorted this time, rolling his eyes with exaggeration. 

“I’ll be over later,” Ignis promised quietly. Prompto swelled, smiling. 

“I’ll make sure he is,” Nyx promised with a wink. 

Prompto smiled more, laughing, “you’re the best!” He turned, clearly wanting nothing more than to kiss Iggy again before breathlessly adding, “I’ll see ya later then.” 

Ignis nodded then stepped back to let them go.


	2. Chapter 2

Ignis had been oddly distant. It wasn’t something that usually bothered him, but-- there wasn’t a better word for it. Iggy had been acting _ weird. _

They tried to keep the habit of at least eating together in the evenings, though. But Ignis had surprised him by not even asking him to help clean up. “It’s quite alright, Noct,” he’d said, “don’t worry about it tonight.” Noct had eyed him suspiciously, but Iggy hadn’t seemed to notice as he continued, “I’ll be stepping out for the night, but I’ll be back tomorrow morning.” 

“Oh,” Noct could only blink in surprise. 

He waited for Iggy to elaborate, he usually said where he was going on late trips like this. Instead, he added, “Gladio will be arriving shortly.” That was kind of a bombshell. 

“Gladio?” He asked before he could stop himself. 

It was Iggy’s turn to look up and blink in surprise, “yes...Unless you’d rather he not...?” 

“Not, that’s fine--” Noct cut in quickly, “I just--” He was suddenly caught off guard. Iggy had this little glint in his eyes. A look he usually got when he’d found some new delicacy he or Gladio or Prom liked or when he’d backed some overstepping socialite back into a corner after trying to run circles around him and Noct. A sly, rather proud of himself look. He couldn’t even stop to wonder what it meant because _ wow Iggy’s eyes were so friggen pretty-- _

Ignis’s lips pulled just slightly as he turned back to his work, evidently having picked up on what Noct had been thinking. Noct’s face flushed.

“You have the day off tomorrow as well,” Noct looked up. That was a surprise. He usually left it to Iggy to tell him about 15 minutes before he went out the door in the mornings what exactly it was they were going out to do. But even then, there _ always _ seemed to be something. Days off weren’t entirely unheard of, but still. This just seemed fishy. “And so _ Gladio _ ,” he said in a slow, dry tone, “is gonna _ chaperone me_. Until you _ get back_. On my _ day off _ .” If he was free, Iggy knew he’d spend the whole day under the sheets. And Gladio probably had his own duties. Unless he _ also _ conveniently had the day off, which would be _ suuuuper _ fishy. 

Ignis’s face didn’t reveal anything as he shrugged, but Noct was accustomed enough to reading his little quirks to know Iggy was up to something. “_Iggy,_” he whined, “what are you planning?” 

Ignis gave a small, frightfully tired looking smile as he leaned over, gently kissing Noct’s forehead, “can’t you just trust me, my dear?” 

Noct’s face warmed again. “You play dirty,” he mumbled, not really complaining. Iggy knew he’d do damn near anything he asked with that overly sweet tone. 

Iggy just chuckled, “on the contrary, I believe we both know that was far from the dirtiest I could play.” 

Noct got the warning and waited for the inevitable. With moments, Ignis had swiped his legs out from under him, arm wrapping around him and pulling Noct indecently close, pinned between Ignis and the sink still full of warm soapy water. Noct gasped but instantly relaxed into it, closing his eyes, snaking his arms around Iggy’s torso and gripping tightly to the back of his shirt, pressing his face into his neck. He could feel Iggy’s lips curl into that sly smile, and heat roiled beneath his skin as his small chuckle shot lightning down his spine. 

“Look at me,” Ignis said. Noct pursed his lips, as heated as he was, this was comfy. And besides, Ignis wouldn’t touch him with hands still soaked with dishwasher soap water, so he was stuck just using his arms. “Noct,” he purred into his hair, rubbing his thigh between Noctis’s. Noct’s eyes shot open and he gasped, unconsciously tilting his head up. Ignis made quick work of him. 

When Iggy pulled away, Noct was breathless. _ “That,” _ Iggy emphasized, lifting an arm for Noct to slip out from under, “is playing _ dirty _.” Noct just rolled his eyes, but he wasn’t really gonna complain. 

In that, though, Ignis had achieved what he’d wanted. Noct had seemingly forgotten his odd behavior from earlier. He’d have to be more careful. 


	3. Chapter 3

Ignis pulled up to Prompto’s apartment without incident. Noct was already fast asleep on the couch, unperturbed by Gladio’s rumbling chuckle as he’d come in and seen him. He texted Prompto who opened the front door to let him in. He beamed up at Ignis who eyed the space, lit only by an overhanging fixture above the kitchen table. “Parents home?” 

“Nope,” Prompto responded, face heating just slightly. Ignis had to withhold the urge to slam the door closed and pin the smaller blonde to it. His exchange with Noct had left him feeling...Well, that wasn’t here nor there. They’d have their time. After all, that was partly what they were here planning for anyway. 

Prompto eyed him curiously. He couldn’t tell if that flash in Iggy’s eyes had been what he’d thought it was. Gladio had texted him, warning him to be careful. Apparently, Iggy was a bit distracted and had been a bit more “intimate--” as Gladio had lightly put it-- with him before leaving. Not that Prompto would have _ at all _ minded Iggy taking out his frustration on him. That was kinda like a dream actually. 

Ignis stepped in, closing and locking the door behind him. Prompto was vividly reminded of just about every trope he’d seen with that simple action, but if Ignis was gonna be presentable behind closed doors, he could be focused too. 

"Have you eaten yet?" Ignis asked. 

"Hm?" Prompto hummed, "uhhhh..."

Iggy sighed, but there was a slight smile there too, "honestly, I can't leave you alone can I?" 

Prompto bit his lip, wanting to say something, but withheld. Instead, he just slipped his hand into Iggy's. Their gloves caught on each other and it was a little awkward, but the slightest squeeze Iggy gave back was assuring. "I'm not too hungry yet, and I'm guessing you and Noct just ate?" Ignis nodded. "I can wait for a bit," he led Iggy to the table he'd spent so many lonely afternoons, late nights, and mornings at. It felt both strange and wonderful to not be sitting by himself, still holding Iggy's hand all the while. "Come on, I wanna get started on planning this thing!" 

Ignis eyes him, almost clearly seeing the emotions flicker in and out of those eyes. He'd done quite the same as he has with Noctis earlier, albeit much softer. He leaned in, slowly as to not make Prompto jump, and kissed his forehead. Prompto's little intake of breath broke him. Even now, after all this time, Prompto especially always seem so surprised to be touched. Ignis pulled him onto his lap, muffling the noise Prompto made with a kiss. He didn't struggle, per se, but he sure as Six _ squirmed _. 

Prompto had peripherally seen him, but he'd still been surprised. He wanted to do something, _ anything _, but shit! What did people do with their hands??? Ignis had an arm around his waist, the other-- ohh that was nice. Prompto's eyes had closed, but he finally relaxed as Iggy petted his hair. He didn't even care it was getting messed up. There was no one here to impress but Iggy. Which, don't get me wrong, he wanted to do, but... But the tongue in his mouth was making it hard to think. The thoughts-- every wet dream he'd basically ever had about Iggy-- flashing through his mind too fast. Too fast. It was overwhelming, and without thinking, he pulled away, gasping. 

When he opened his eyes, Iggy looked more concerned than anything, hand moving to his waist, arm around his hips. Prompto was still catching his breath, which was hard because he was still, even now, getting used to how _ close _ he could be to Iggy. 

Ignis pulled him close, kissing his forehead again, sensing more than seeing the smile on Prompto's lips. 

"This is gonna be awesome," the younger said absently. It was telling that Ignis didn't immediately know what he was talking about. 

"Yes, this should be entertaining," he said with a sly smile. 

Prompto was starting to wonder if he'd have to get up from Iggy's lap. He really didn't want to, truth be told. He could see why Ignis would have to pry Noctis off of him in the mornings. He sighed, wishing all four of them could get away with living together. Gladio, living on his own, had a much easier time letting Prompto slip into his place unnoticed. Or vice versa. But he didn't like staying in this house. It helped, but he still woke up colder here, even with Gladio the Human Furnace holding him than when they woke up at his apartment. 

"As far as preparing the ballroom," Iggy began. Prompto perked up slightly, ripped from his thoughts as Iggy clearly didn't have any inclination to make him move while they worked. "I'll handle that. Regardless of what ends up being set up, it should be able to fit." Prom nodded. He wasn't actually too sure what they'd be doing here. 

Ignis leaned his head into Prompto's cheek, testing the waters, so to say. He smiled as he felt Prompto expand with glee and comfortably nuzzle himself against him. He didn't even realize himself wrapping his arm tighter around Prompto's waist. Luckily, Prom didn't seem to either, or didn't mind. "Any specific ideas? I must admit I only have vague ideas on what a high school dance is supposed to look like." 

The realizations hit Prompto like a pile of bricks being catapulted at him after being set off with gun powder. Okay wait that didn't make sense but whatever. For one, Iggy saying it. _High school dance_. It just. All hit home. They were _doing_ _this._ Like. For real doing this. But on the heels of that thought, Gladio and Ignis had more or less been privately taught. They'd gone to school, but it was nowhere as public as where he and Noct went to. And there was no way they'd been allowed to go to dances. Heck, Gladio had had to _hide_ all of his past flings. 

But this also meant that... This would be a first for all of them. Prompto had _ been _to a dance, but he'd kinda just slipped into the background and watched everyone and had felt kinda creepy for it actually. He'd been unable to not message some classmates ahead of time about the location switch for the dance, and pretty much anyone with two brain cells had figured some stuff out and, well? There'd been... A popular suggestion. But that he'd have to get to later. 

"Well, we'll need to figure out where to set up the DJ, probably with a raised platform of some kind," Prompto began, trying to remember everything that might be important he noticed from all the other school events he'd peeked in to. "Speakers, of course, but I think that's more on the DJ's end. But like, a way for him to plug everything in." He was really starting to get into this, Iggy shorthanding everything he said into a little notepad he kept. 

"Biggest thing is the dance floor. That should be easy. Just keep the middle super open. Some snack tables are usually set up outside, but that's mostly for space, and I'm guessing we want to keep this all as confined as possible, huh? So just along like the back walls maybe? We could also line part of the side walls with tables, no need for chairs--"

"Really?" Ignis inquired. 

Prompto laughed, "Iggy, we're casual high school students at a dance. Some people might want to sit down but eating is kinda whatever as long as there's a place that's preferably not the floor to set down your drink. Just hold the plates." 

Ignis hummed, "yes we'll likely have to bring out--"

"Think the palace would be cool with like paper plates?" Ignis looked at him blankly. "Iggy, unless you want like half of these broken by the end of the night, we should use as much disposable stuff as possible. Cups, plates, utensils-- actually we should stick to finger foods or even just like chip bags or stuff that don't need plates." Ignis was still giving him a funny look. 

It hit Prompto then that general staples of not super rich academy school life would all be lost to him. He almost felt sad for Iggy, who had almost definitely never eaten raw instant ramen and then the salty flavoring afterwards on a dare. "Here," he said with a soft smile, "lemmie list my food suggestions." 

It was all basically as Prompto had said. Chips and the like, mostly. The drinks were no better, all bottled or canned sodas and juices. Even setting aside how rather tasteless it all was, it still surprised him. "So basically what I'd expect from a public school's cafeteria?" He was almost incredulous. 

Prompto laughed, "exactly! It's the exact same food." 

Ignis narrowed his eyes, "Prompto, this _ is _ taking place at the palace. We _ could _\--" 

"Yeah, we could," Prompto cut off, running his fingers absently through Iggy's hair, completely missing how the simple act struck the Advisor dumb. "But then it wouldn't feel like a _ normal _ school dance. That's what we're going for, remember?" Ignis swallowed what he was thinking, some things on topic, some things not."Just one normal school dance-- at the palace. For, you know, security." 

"Right," Ignis said, mastering himself completely. He looked back down at the list, "I'll see that the supplies are handled. Anything else?" 

Prompto eyed him a moment. The lighting was hitting him at just the right angle-- oh who was he kidding Ignis was picturesque at every angle. He envied him a bit for that. "Prompto?" Leave it to Iggy to pull him out of his thoughts quickly. 

"Uhmmm," he tried to mask his distraction, "decorations, mostly."

Ignis groaned, "I'm assuming it's about as done up as the menu." 

Prompto laughed so hard he snorted. He tried to cover it, Iggy wouldn't let him, one thing and another and oops what do you know they were making out again. Prompto finally answered when they pulled apart. "Yes, it'll have to be just as cheaply deplorable," he said, jokingly mocking Ignis's at times stuffy language. 

Iggy made a face, "as long as it doesn't involve things like duct tape--"

Prompto laughed again, "public schools couldn't afford that much duct tape!" Ignis blinked again. That seemed quite an exaggeration, "it's mostly masking tape and a _ ton _ of paper streamers." 

Ignis shook his head, "perhaps I should leave you in charge of that." Prompto laughed, quietly hoping he was joking. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally decided to just say "fuck it" and instead of dealing with fixing the impracticalities and making this super long I'm literally just gonna write what I came to write fuck it none of this makes sense time wise and i know it but i dont care anymore i just wanna enjoy my fic and not over think as usual.

Having fallen asleep so early, it was no surprise to him when Noct woke up at about 2 in the morning. What  _ did _ surprise him was that he was in his own bed. Even more surprising still was that the weight in bed next to him felt wrong. He had a split second panic until he recognized it must be Gladio, then came more fully awake to wonder why he was in bed next to  _ Gladio _ . 

The events of earlier that night came back to him, and the rest was pretty easily filled in. Gladio must’ve eventually carried him to bed and slipped in with him. His arm was a comfortable weight over his side. Noct sighed, snuggling back against him, further into Gladio’s warmth. It was slightly uncomfortable, but he didn’t much care. Gladio shifted his head slightly, letting Noct know he was at least rousing, and placed a gentle kiss into his hair. “Sorry,” he mumbled. 

“You’re good,” Gladio replied, just as sleepily. He gave Noct a squeeze and he wrapped his arms around Gladio’s and squeezed back, curling up a bit more. Gladio’s sleepy rumble made him smile. This was nice. His last thought before drifting back off was vaguely planning out how to keep Gladio as long as possible later that morning. 

* * *

He next roused just a bit after first light, just as Gladio was trying to slip away for the morning. Noct curled up more tightly around his arm, making a disgruntled sound. “Noct,” Gladio complained, though quietly, “I gotta get up.” Noct only repeated the noise he’d made before, only slightly louder. “I’m just gonna take a piss and come back,” he reasoned. Noct made a face, still not opening his eyes. “Promise,” Gladio insisted, kissing Noct’s brow gently. With an exaggerated sigh, Noct relented. 

To his surprise, Gladio really did come back to bed. Noct turned over, pressing himself close, all but smothering himself against Gladio’s (surprise!) bare chest. Gladio chuckled, running his fingers through his hair. Noct smiled sleepily. 

This was nice, but he knew it couldn’t last and, from experience, knew it’d be harder to let Gladio go if he got  _ too _ too comfortable. “When you heading out?” Noct mumbled. 

Gladio surprised him by placing another kiss to his forehead. “No time, ‘less you wanna go out for somethin’.” Noct peered up at him, squinting against the light filtering in. Gladio smirked. “Iggy worked it out, I got a free day.” 

Noct hummed, settling back.  _ Suspicious _ , he thought. 

What Noct didn’t know was that, after making  _ absolutely _ sure he’d knocked out, Gladio had gotten a full brief on this crazy scheme Specs and Prompto had  _ somehow _ gotten green lit. They weren’t in any hurry, but eventually he’d have to slip out and pick some stuff up for, er, later that night. 

Noct was in for a surprise, that was for sure. 

He’d also decided to wait for the right moment, but a part of him still felt a little bad. On that note, he decided there was no point in waiting like he’d planned. Today had a loose agenda, but this wasn’t vital. He was gonna wait until the whole thing unraveled for Noct, but there wasn’t any point if he was just gonna feel like shit over something tiny. So he pulled Noct closer, who then stretched and all but  _ draped _ himself over him, then rested their foreheads together. Noct still had his eyes, almost spitefully, closed. 

“Happy birthday, babe.” Noct’s eyes slitted open just a bit as he broke into a wide grin. 

“Thanks babe,” he replied. They kissed. Chaste, for now, anyway. They had all day. 

* * *

Breakfast was a bit of a dilemma. Gladio could cook, of course. As could Noct, for that matter. But Gladio was  _ not _ as accustomed to predicting what Noct would eat in the mornings, or how much. According to Iggy, he could be rather finicky, and entirely unhelpful in trying to decide. 

Gladio  _ was, _ however, accustomed to Noct’s brand of indecision. Noct could be extremely picky. But, at least for Gladio, he could also be easily assuaged. Gladio just made about double what he usually made for himself, letting Noct pick off “his” plate. Worked like a charm. 

Of course his skills weren’t as refined as Iggy’s, but Noct didn’t complain any, so he’d call it a win. He also would never admit it, but it was too damn cute having Noct sitting in his lap, nibbling a bit of bacon and absentmindedly opening his mouth to pretty much anything Gladio tried to feed him. Noct apparently didn’t realize he had this little smirk on his face, like he wasn’t being a total baby right now. 

Noct, on the other hand, was rather enjoying the stupid grin on Gladio’s face. He didn’t have to say anything. Noct may have eaten fucking  _ steamed broccoli, _ but it was Gladio who was eating out of his hands right now. He probably could ask for just about anything and Gladio would give in. Not that he had anything in mind, it was more the potential that got him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> domestic fluff is a weakness but i just want them to be HAPPY

**Author's Note:**

> This is super self indulgent and I have other fics I should be working on but everything else is agony for various reasons so I am writing this for my own amusement thank u


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